Recoilless gun for simultaneously separately loading propellant and projectile



July 13, 1965 c w. MussER ETAL 3,194,118

RECOILLESS GUN FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY SEPARATELY LOADING PROPELLANT AND PROJECTILE Filed Jan. 28, 1963 43 INVENTO'ILS,

G WALTON MUSSER ROBERT W MARKGRAF I811, 42 Raw 0.1M

"' ATTORNEY$= United States Patent RECOILLESS GUN FOR SEMULTANEGUSLY SEPARATELY LOADING PROPELLANT AND PRGJECHLE C Walton Mussel, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., and Robert W. Marhgraf, Roslyn, Pa, assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Jan. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 254,513 4 Claims. (Cl. 89-15) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) This invention described herein may be manufactured and used by'or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to recoilless guns and has for an object to provide a gun for mounting in an armored vehicle and capable of being loaded from one side where- 'by no loading personnel need be exposed outside such a vehicle. Another object is to provide a recoilless gun capable of being simultaneously loaded with separate loading ammunition quickly and without taking the gun off target whereby substantial loading time may be saved, .and the rapidity of fire raised.

Ever since recoilless rifles had been demonstrated in combat about 1945 to be effective, their worth has been increasingly appreciated and their development has been extended to other calibers than those first tried. One development has been into easier loading Without taking the barrel off-target and with the projectile and separate propellant simultaneously loaded into horizontal chambers.

According to this invention these old needs have been at least partially filled. Specifically an 8 inch recoilless rifle has been designed to demonstrate an increase in rapidity of fire using separate loading ammunition by simultaneously loading the gun with a propellant and projectile to eifect such increase in rate of fire and when the gun is mounted in an armored vehicle Where the needed clearance space in rear of the gun for loading and swinging a breech-block out of the way is not available. Instead space for loading at one side has been utilized by pivotally mounting the projectile receiving chamber and the propellant chamber enabling them to be simultaneously loaded, or when the gun trunnions for elevation are located longitudinally adjacent the pivotal connection of the two aforementioned chambers there is little or no change in elevation of the mouths of these two chambers with the result the gun may be convenient 1y kept on a target requiring a high angle of elevation while loading.

Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a recoilless gun embodying this invention with part of the barrel broken open for loading and with the gun mounted in an unarmored towed chassis.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the base of a bifurcated portion secured to the gun and taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 with the gun and chambers removed.

FIG. 3 shows the chambers in loading position and guide grooves in the surface of prongs 14 shown partially in dotted lines.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment having a handwheel or motor for rotating a sleeve in the projectile chamber.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a handwheel and threaded stem carried by upper fork for rotating the propellant chamber through approximately 90.

The barrel 16 of a recoilless ritle is mounted on trunnions 34, about which the barrel is elevated for range. A projectile receiving chamber 11 is located in front 3,194,118 Patented July 13, 1955 of a propellant chamber 12 and the customary venturi nozzle 13 is at the rear end of the propellant chamber 12. In this case the venturi is of the centrally open type. Attached to the barrel 1% is a bifurcated member 14 having upper and lower prongs 14a and 14b respectively as shown, one above and the other below the chamber 11 and chamber 12. On an upper and inner face of the lower prong 14b are guide grooves 15a similar in shape to the grooves on the inner face of prong 14a. As shown in FIG. 3, projections 16a and 16b from chambers 11 and 12 have a pivot pin 16 extending through and between them and also extending above and below said projections and into the guide grooves 15a in the prongs 14a and 14b. Chamber 11 is rotatable within a sleeve 18 at each end of which is an interrupted thread (not shown) for engagement with complementary threads in the rear end of the barrel and opposite threads in the front end of the propellant chamber 12 fo the purpose of sealing such connections against pressure and gas leakage on firing. The threads at one end of chamber 11 are opposite to those at the other end in order that rotation of sleeve 18 will simultaneously close both ends against gas leaking out of the chamber through these threaded connections. Such sleeve may be rotated manually, or any appropriate mechanism, not shown for purposes of clarity, may be used for rotating said sleeve.

A band 19 around chamber 12 has upper and lower projections 20 and 21 respectively for engagement in longitudinal slots 22 in the prong members 14a and 14b. A handwheel FIG. 6 is fixed on the projection 20 to assist in swinging chamber 12 and simultaneously chamber 11 connected thereto.

To provide for elevation of the weapon, handwheel 23 or motor drives a threaded rod 24 extending longitudinally beneath the barrel 10 through rotatable shaft 24a beneath prong 1412. A gear 25 on shaft 24a drives a gear 2512 on threaded rod 24 through an idler gear 25a. Shaft 24a and gears 25, 25a and 25b are mounted on the member 14 in appropriate bearings not shown. A threaded nut or block 26 is shiftable along rod 24 as the rod is rotated. Supporting rods 28 are pivotally secured to a foot plate 29, one on each side, and rod 28 is pivotally secured to nut 26 so that elevation of the gun barrel is increased or decreased according to the direction of rotation of the threaded rod 24. Foot plates 29, one on each side, are pivotally secured to the rods 27 and 28 for resting uponrthe ground and rods 27 are secured to the lower prong 14b of the mount. Wheel 33, one on each side, provide support by meansof which the gun and mount may be towed wherever desired, the hub or axle 34 on which the wheels 33 are mounted constituting trunnions about which the gun is elevated. As the rod 24 is rotated to elevate the muzzle, wheels 33 will be free to rotate slightly as needed. While the gun is being towed the rods 28 are each placed in support 36. Rods 28 are each provided with a threaded connection in front of the flange or handwheel 38 and this enables one rod 23 to be lengthened or shortened with respect to the one on the opposite side of the gun. This in effect enables :a limited traversing or slow movement of the gun to be made in a horizontal plane.

In operation for raising the gun to its desired elevation, hand wheel or motor 23 is rotated an amount needed. The sleeve 18 in the projectile chamber 11 is next rotated to disengage the interrupted threads at each end. This movement causes chamber 11 to be free from the barrel It Chamber 12 is also simultaneously freed from chamber 11 and in doing so moves back with chamber 11 a still greater amount as their threads are disengaged. These chambers are then ready to be swung to their loading position shown in FIG. 3. Such swinging is accomplished by rotating handwheel 44 (FIG. 6) driving worm wheel 46 in a clockwise direc ion approximately 90. Rotation of chamber 12 about its pivots 2d and 21 causes chamber 11 to be rotated by its pin 16 moving along the lateral or transverse portions of guide grooves 15a to swing both chambers to their FIG. 3 position. Both the projectile and propellant charge may be simultaneously loaded into their chambers. Rotation of both loaded chambers back to their position in substantial al-inement with the gun barrel is next eilected manually or otherwise. This swings pivot pin 16 between chambers 11 and 12, into the generally transverse upper and lower guide grooves 15a. As pin 16 reaches the closed end portion of these transverse grooves, it is free to move longitudinally forward in the portion 15c as the two chambers 11. and 12 both move forward into a gas sealing position for firing. Hiring is electrically or by percussion in ways familiar in the art.

In FIG. 4 is shown an embodiment of the projectile chamber 11 in which the sleeve 18a is threaded with continuous instead of interrupted threads to provide better sealing for the propellant gases. The threads at one end are opposite to those at the opposite end in orde that on rotation of the sleeve 18a the chamber 1.1 may be drawn forward into the rear portion of the gun barrel by cooperating threads, not shown. At the same time the propellant chamber 12 is drawn forward by the threads on the rear portion of sleeve 13a engaging threads within the chamber 12. With this embodiment the longitudinal grooves 22 on the inner faces of bifurcated member 14 will be longer to permit the necessary axial movement of chambers 11 and 12.

FIG. 5 shows the device of FIG. 4 taken on section line 5-5. Handwheel 42 on threaded stem 43 causes threads 'on sleeve 18?. to rotate that sleeve for the threads at each end of it to be engaged. Handwheel 42 is spaced far enough out on stem 43 so that the diameter of this handwheel will not interfere with member 14.

For larger caliber guns, a more convenient mechanism for rotating chamber 12 is shown in FIG. 6 where a handwheel 4-4 on threaded stem 45 eifects rotation of worm wheel 46 on projection Zita, the stem 45 and worm wheel 46 having to slide forwardly with chamber 12. A housing 47 for this worm 45' and wheel 46 is preferably engaged to slide longitudinally along a rib 48 parallel to the axis of slot 22. This housing 4'? worm wheel 46 guide rib 48 and worm 45 with handwheel 44 are prefer- :ably located on top of the upper prong 14a or when more convenient below the lower prong 14b.

Among the advantages of this invention may be mentioned the ability to have both a projectile and separate propellant substantially simultaneously fed into the gun in the same direction, whereby considerable time is saved over the prior practice of first loading the projectile, and then the propellant and a more rapid rate of fire is made possible in a large caliber recoilless gun. This loading operation needs no long clearance space in rear of the gun where loading personnel are unprotected by the vehicle armor. With pivotal axis 16 of both chambers located longitudinally adjacent the gun trunnions or wheel axle 34, there is a minimum change in elevation of the loading height for almost any gun elevation with the result the gun may be left in an on-target position while reloading. The recoilless character of the gun does not move the gun off-target during firing. Where a long barrel is used with a high-low system of propellant pressure for efficient operation the center of gravity is between the trunnions 34 and the slidable support 4-1 with the result the gun is better balanced than is the usual long barrel acting as a cantilever, and whip is thought to be less. vision of threaded connections in the supporting rods 2% enables a slow motion fine adjustment to be made in trav- The pro- 7 ersing or in azimuth. In loading position each chamber 11 and 12 has its axis substantially horizontal regardless of the gun elevation, although projectile chamber 11 may be slightly higher than propellant chamber 12.

We claim:

1. A recoilless gun including in combination;

a barrel;

a support member having a forward open end and at least one rearwardly extending leg; said barrel mounted to and communicating with said support member forward end;

a propellant chamber in axial alignment with said barrel and having a forward open end and a rearward restricted open end;

an open ended projectile chamber disposed between, axially aligned with, and abutting said propellant chamber and said barrel, said projectile chamber pivot-ally connected with said propellant chamber; and

means for substantially simultaneously moving both chambers longitudinally rearwardly and rotatably away from said barrel and rotatably away from each other, said means including a first pin fixed to said propellant chamber, a first longitudinal slot in said leg adapted to pivotally and slidably receive said first pin, .a second pin fixed to the forward end portion of said projectile chamber, a second slot in said leg adapted to pivotally and slidably receive said second pin and further adapted to guide said second pin longitudinally rearwardly and angularly away from said barrel, a third pin pivotally interconnecting said chambers to each other, a third slot in said leg adapted to pivotally and slidably receive said third pin and further adapted to guide said third pin longitudinally rearwardly and transversely away from said barrel, and drive means inte ral with said propellant chamber for imparting a force to said first pin to urge same longitudinally rearwardly in said first slot thence to rotate said first pin in said first slot whereupon said projectile chamber, substantially simultaneously with the movement of said propellant chamber, slides longitudinally rearwardly and augularly away from said barrel and pivotaily away from said propellant chamber.

2. A recoilless gun as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support member is bifurcated defining two rearwardly extending legs, said propellant chamber and said projectile chamber being arranged between said legs.

3. A recoilless gun as set forth in claim 2 wherein said slots are arranged in both of said legs and receive the ends of said pins.

4. A recoilless gun as set forth in claim 1 wherein said propellant chamber rearward end is in the form of a venturi nozzle.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,489,748 11/49 Burney 89l.7 2,788,713 4/57 Even 89-1.7 X 2,789,476 4/57 Delalande 8941 2,790,353 4/57 Bird 891.7 2,814,234 11/57 Maillard 89-41 3,128,670 4/64 Blacker 89l.7

FOREIGN PATENTS 590,268 7/47 Great Britain.

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL W. ENGLE, SAMUEL FEINBERG,

Examiners. 

1. A RECOILLESS GUN INCLUDING IN COMBINATION; A BARREL; A SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A FORWARD OPEN END AND AT LEAST ONE REARWARDLY EXTENDING LEG; SAID BARREL MOUNTED TO AND COMMUNICATING WITH SAID SUPPORT MEMBER FORWARD END; A PROPELLANT CHAMBER IN AXIAL ALIGNMENT WITH SAID BARREL AND HAVING A FORWARD OPEN END AND A REARWARD RESTRICTED OPEN END; AN OPEN ENDED PROJECTILE CHAMBER DISPOSED BETWEEN, AXIALLY ALIGNED WITH, AND ABUTTING SAID PROPELLANT CHAMBER AND SAID BARREL, SAID PROJECTILE CHAMBER PIVOTALLY CONNECTED WITH SAID PROPELLANT CHAMBER; AND MEANS FOR SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVING BOTH CHAMBERS LONGITUDINALLY REARWARDLY AND ROTATABLY AWAY FROM SAID BARREL AND ROTATABLY AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, SAID MEANS INCLUDING A FIRST PIN FIXED TO SAID PROPELLANT CHAMBER, A FIRST LONGITUDINAL SLOT IN SAID LEG ADAPTED TO PIVOTALLY AND SLIDABLE RECEIVE SAID FIRST PIN, A SECOND PIN FIXED TO THE FORWARD END PROTION OF SAID PROJECTILE CHAMBER, A SECOND SLOT IN SAID LEG ADAPTED TO PIVOTALLY AND SLIDABLY RECEIVE SAID SECONE PIN AND FURTHER ADAPTED TO GUIDE SAID SECOND PIN LONGITUDINALLY REARWARDLY AND ANGULARLY AWAY FROM SAID BARREL, A THIRD PIN PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTING SAID CHAMBERS TO EACH OTHER, A THIRD SLOT IN SAID LEG ADAPTED TO PIVOTALLY AND SLIDABLY RECEIVE SAID THIRD PIN AND FURTHER ADAPTED TO GUIDE SAID THIRD PIN LONGITUDINALLY REARWARDLY AND TRANSVERSELY AWAY FROM SAID BARREL, AND DRIVE MEANS INTEGRAL WITH SAID PROPELLANT CHAMBER FOR IMPARTING A FORCE TO SAID FIRST PIN TO URGE SAME LONGITUDINALLY REARWARDLY IN SAID FIRST SLOT THENCE TO ROTATE SAID FIRST PIN IN SAID FIRST SLOT WHEREUPON SAID PROJECTILE CHAMBER, SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE MOVEMENT OF SAID PROPELLANT CHAMBER, SLIDES LONGITUDINALLY REARWARDLY AND ANGULARLY AWAY FROM SAID BARREL AND PIVOTALLY AWAY FROM SAID PROPELLANT CHAMBER. 